Install Windows using Bootcamp and in a VM? Before I go into this, do you understand the differences between Bootcamp installations vs VM?

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Both Paralells or VMware offer you to use your bootcamp partition as a virtual machine.

I've tried both with VMware and using the bootcamp partition was slower than using a VMWare created VM disk image. But it mainly was for suspends and starting up. Once booted I didn't notice much difference. I did however notice that the system seemed to have a bus hand up every now and then using the BC partition which didn't happen when using the disk image.

Both Paralells or VMware offer you to use your bootcamp partition as a virtual machine.

I've tried both with VMware and using the bootcamp partition was slower than using a VMWare created VM disk image. But it mainly was for suspends and starting up. Once booted I didn't notice much difference. I did however notice that the system seemed to have a bus hand up every now and then using the BC partition which didn't happen when using the disk image.

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I appreciate the reply however that's not what I was asking. My inquiry is very specific, does the OP understand the differences between Bootcamp and VM installations... not whether Bootcamp installations could be accessed via Parallels or VMWare Fusion. We've worked with accessing other real partitions through VMware before so Bootcamp would be no different in that sense.

In some cases I've seen reduced performance but I'm not absolutely certain as to why it happens. If I were to take the best guess possible, I'm leaning on the idea that perhaps there needs to be a on-the-fly conversion/porting from a real installation into something the VM software understands natively. To get the best answer, the OP may need to simply make a call or email VMware or Parallels to see what they have to say about it.

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In some cases I've seen reduced performance but I'm not absolutely certain as to why it happens. If I were to take the best guess possible, I'm leaning on the idea that perhaps there needs to be a on-the-fly conversion/porting from a real installation into something the VM software understands natively.

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I think this has been generally attributed to additional overhead in the way that the VM accesses the native file system vs. its own virtual partition.

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